If Only
by KaibaLover91
Summary: The Kaiba brothers are watching a memory from their past when tragedy strikes them. Takes place during the Virtual Arc. One-shot. Not incest.


**After reading so many Kaiba brothers fanfiction, especially ones with a twist to the original series, I decided to do a one-shot with an idea that has been brewing in my head for some time now. But, seeing as how I'm not the best cook in the world, this story may come out burnt (as most of my food does LOL). But, hopefully, it is still good enough to eat… I mean read (alright, I'll stop with the metaphor). This is my first fanfic so please be nice and constructive criticism is welcome. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YU-GI-OH!, the characters, and the dialogue. I do, however, own the ending, Seto's thoughts, and the dialogue marked with an * (to separate my dialogue from the actual episode's dialogue). **

**Warning: Angst and character death. Also, I tried my best but I am sorry if Seto is a little OOC especially at the end. Please don't be mad **

**If Only…**

**Seto's POV**

It hurts to watch this memory so very clear, with no fuzziness at all, as if it happened moments before. I thought I would never re-live that day, the day that really changed my—no… _our_ lives forever. But it was for the best and I have no regrets at all.

"What made you so sure you were going to beat Gozaburo at chess, Seto?" The boy with long, raven colored hair standing next to me asks. Hmph, I thought by now he would have known better than to ask me something like that. Eh, I'll humor him anyway.

"Simple, my desire to win that game was far greater than his, Mokuba. By challenging Gozaburo, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. To him it was just a game."

Now, the snake speaks, spitting venom with every word that is coming out of that evil mouth of his. But even then, I wasn't afraid of him. I watch, in silence, as my 12 year old self matches all of Gozaburo's moves until I finally "checkmate" him. The look of shock on his face made me feel so very powerful, like I could do anything.

"That was the day I took control of my future." I say as I keep watching the chess match. In my peripheral, I see Mokuba's head go down. Is he crying?

"Yeah? Well, it was also the day you stopped calling me 'Mokie'."

Huh, I had not thought about that. But he needs to grow up, for that is all I have ever wanted him to understand.

"If it wasn't for me, we never would have escaped that rat hole. I turned our lives around that day." I continue to watch the memory, which is now showing Gozaburo about to adopt us, when I see Mokuba walk off.

"Hey!" I'm getting furious.

He reaches for the door to the playroom of our memory.

"Come back! Right now!" I shout again and he finally stops and looks at me. What is he doing?! Didn't he learn his lesson already about opening doors in this world?

"I liked the way it was before we got here! At least back then, you actually smiled once in a while."

I gasp as I now realize what is going on. Mokuba stares at me with a sad and hurt expression.

"Wait a second, Mokuba, get a grip, please. You're going to fall right into Noah's trap. He's using these illusions to turn us against each other." I'm trying, desperately, to make him understand what I have come to realize. I keep going as my tone sharpens. "It's fake, the past is over."

Right then, he opens the door and steps through. I feel a cool draft, a wind, blowing upwards. Mokuba hollers as I realize where we are. I am on a cliff's edge, the door being the cliff. Because Mokuba already stepped through, he is over the cliff's edge, hovering for a split second. I scream his name and reach out to him. He begins to fall but I catch his arm. Whew, now to pull him up even though he is a little heavy. This won't be easy.

"Don't let go!" He cries to me. Does he honestly believe I would do that?

A few minutes have passed and, regrettably, I am not being successful. My little brother, my only family, has slipped through my grasp, but I'm still holding him. He dangles by a thread as I now hold his wrist, not his arm.

"I've got you." I assure him even though I'm grunting. Like I said, he is heavy.

"Don't look down." I remind him.

"Too late." He complains as he grabs my wrist with his free hand. I think I can pull him up now. But just as I'm pulling him up, he cries, "I can't hold on much longer!"

Suddenly, there is a violent shaking. An earthquake? I start sliding off the edge. The shaking causes me to lose my grip and I watch in horror as my little brother plummets down to the water and rocks below.

*"Nooo! Mokubaaaaa!" I can't believe it. My baby brother is… gone, just like that.

I pull myself up back on the cliff. I fight the tears trying to form in my eyes as the memory of the chess match replays in my mind, the match that started it all. If only I had not challenged the snake. If only I had thought about Mokuba's best interests a lot more than my own. If only I could undo my past. Then, my dear, little brother would still be alive and as happy as he was _before_ I changed things. I take back what I said before: I truly regret ever meeting Gozaburo. If only I knew then what would happen.

I finally collect myself and look up to the gloomy, gray sky. Goodbye, Mokie, but this is not forever. We will see each other again someday. I silently vow revenge against Noah and, still looking at the sky, I whisper, *"If only, Mokuba, if only…" I turn and walk away, determined to find Noah.

**The End**

**Ok, so do you remember these scenes? If you don't or you don't know what I'm talking about the first half above the squiggly line toward the end of the story comes from YU-GI-OH! episode 100 and the bottom half comes from episode 101. However, I added the earthquake and had Mokuba fall which are the twists. Sorry, but I have been wondering how Seto would feel if he was unable to pull Mokuba up. This may not have been my best but it needed to come out of my head. Thanks for reading and please R&R!**


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